Photo via BBC Sport

Oxford apologise for United 93 shirt advert

English League One side Oxford United have issued an unreserved apology after promoting an apparel line featuring the phrase "United 93" across the back of the garments. The design was intended to honour 1893, the year the third-tier club was initially established as an amateur team named Headington.

However, the club acknowledged releasing the merchandise without recognising the connection to the passenger jet hijacked during the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, which later inspired a 2006 cinematic docudrama. Following the oversight, the outfit completely retracted its Campus Clothing collection from retail availability and pledged an internal audit of its approval procedures.

United Airlines Flight 93 was one of four passenger planes seized by 19 Al Qaeda operatives on 11 September 2001, an onslaught that claimed 2,977 lives and left tens of thousands wounded. While two hijacked aircraft destroyed the World Trade Center towers in New York City and a third hit the Pentagon outside Washington DC, Flight 93 crashed into Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board, totaling 44 victims.

Officials believed that specific plane was steered toward the US Capitol Building before coming down.